Even as Donald Trump accepted an invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his own State Department was apparently completely in the dark about the decision.
According to AP reporter Josh Lederman, it’s not clear whether Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “was involved in or aware of any of this” before it went public just hours ago.
In fact, Tillerson was likely sleeping when Trump decided to make what is arguably the most important foreign policy decision of his presidency so far – to meet with the leader of North Korea.
More reporting from Lederman:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Secretary Tillerson, just a few hours ago: “In terms of direct talks with the United States – and you asked negotiations, and we’re a long ways from negotiations.”
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) March 9, 2018
As Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting announced at White House, Tillerson is here in Addis Ababa, where it is 3:45am. No word yet from @StateDept about whether he was involved in or aware of any of this
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) March 9, 2018
State Department spokeswoman from the podium today: “We are not going to schedule talks about talks or any kind of chat or anything like that at this point.â€
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) March 9, 2018
Not even White House staff knew what was going onÂ
The reason it may seem like the North Korea announcement was hastily thrown together by the White House is because it was. It looked as though the president wanted to make the news public in a hurry to distract from other stories dominating the airwaves, from the Stormy Daniels controversy to the ongoing and increasingly explosive Russia investigation.
But in rushing to do this, it caught just about everybody off guard – not just the State Department, which is troubling enough, but also Trump’s White House staff.
WH officials said tonight this was POTUS decision. Even WH staff in the dark until it was made. https://t.co/yBP86sr9cO
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 9, 2018
On an issue as consequential and high-stakes as a meeting with North Korea, it’s important for the administration to be on the same page and speaking in one voice. Sadly, that’s not even close to what we’re seeing from this White House.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.